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My wife was working in our yard in Jamaica, and whistling a lively tune, when a neighbor chanced by and asked her if she wasn't aware of the Scripture verse which said that 'Crowing hens and whistling women were an abomination to God'. Maroline assured her that there was no such verse in the Bible, but the neighbor was not convinced and probably believes she is right to this very day.
People get locked in to believing what someone told them,
without verifying the source, and sometimes they haven't
correctly heard and sometime's the source itself was incorrect.
Unless a person has an understanding of concordances and/or
computers, it will be difficult to prove to them what exactly the
Bible doesn't say. And even then, there will
still be those ambiguous phrases and differences; say for example
like those occasional conflicts between various versions of the
Bible, or the Strong's, Young's, Vines, etc.
Just two (3) elephants and two (2) camels and two (goats) and two (2) of every animal went aboard the Ark? -- Nope, we often hear it that way, but the clean animals went in by seven pair, and the unclean by two pair -- Gen7:2. How to tell the difference between the clean and unclean isn't learned until the book of Leviticus was written, and the vision of Peter in Acts 10:17 further modifies our understanding.
What's the point? Keep reading! It's not over till it's over, in Rev 22:21 on the final page of the Bible.
1. Was the Apostle Peter the first Pope? 
Many people think so, but the Scripture doesn't confirm it in any way! We know
the Apostle Paul went to Rome (Acts28:30) and abode for two years. In his last letter
to Timothy he said "Only Luke is with me", 2Tim4:11. On the other hand, the Apostle
Peter writes from Babylon, 1Pet5:13, where a large community of Jews had abided ever
since the "Carrying away unto Babylon" reported by Jeremiah, Daniel, and Matthew.
As the special minister to the Jews, Gal 2:7, it follows logically that Peter would
go to the Jews in Babylon and not to Rome.
Instead of confirming the Papacy, the Scripture actually denies it! Jesus said "Call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father which is in heaven". Maroline and I were in Sicily when an Italian matron kissed a picture of the Pope, saying "Papa, Papa". Not "Jesus, Jesus", and clearly a reference to her Vatican authority and "father".
Maybe they hadn't yet read the Book of Acts? From the Gospels, and from the words of Jesus to Peter about the Rock his church would be built on, Matt16:18, I could understand why Peter would be given precedence. But, just as Elijah passed the mantle to Elisha, the Book of Acts records how the mantle of Peter was passed to Paul, and the Jews were a school master, Gal 3:24, to bring us 'gentiles' to Christ. [The 'Children' were led by the Rod...but now we are 'adults' able to study and learn].
Although Matthew speaks of "the stone that the builder's rejected", it takes the Book of First Corinthians to record how "that Rock was Christ", 1Cor10:4, and finally make it available for Bible Studies to learn how the honey and water and oil and fire which came from the "Rock" in the Old Testament, was poetically or figuratively speaking of Christ. I concur that Peter was a chip off the old block, but thank God for the Apostle Paul who contributed at least thirteen books to the New Testament!2. Jesus was crucified on Friday. ??
Not likely; more probably it was Wednesday (in the "midst of the week", Dan9:27). Days of the week are not mentioned in
the Bible, although the weekly Jewish sabbath is universally
accepted as beginning at sunset on Friday and lasting until
sunset on Saturday. So many believe the "three days" to
be Fri., Sat., and Sun., despite the abbreviated time Jesus would
have spent in the tomb--less than 36 hrs. All of Saturday, but
none on Friday because His body was taken down just before
sunset,, and very little on Sunday because He had already risen
when Mary arrived early in the morning following the sabbath.
Jesus said "three days AND three nights", and he said it twice. Matt 12:40. Then John's gospel says it was a "high" sabbath, Jn 19:31. These "high sabbaths", or "days of holy convocation", Lev23:7 were celebrated according to God's directions, and they could occur on any day of the week--not just Saturday. They were going by the Lunar Calendar as well as by instructions from the Torah which called for them to kill the lamb on the 14th day of the first month (Ex12:6), and to have a holy convocation on the day following (Ex12:16).
Each "month" began with a new moon, so on the 14th and 15th it would be full. Their calendar in the sky, so to speak, lasted for just 29.5 days, and resulted in a year of 354 days--eleven days short of a solar calendar year. They would begin that second year just eleven days ahead, but after two years it would be 22 days off, and after three years it would be 33 days off. They corrected this by having a second Month-Adar at the end of every third year; knowing that this correction was not perfect and that the tiny error would eventually have to be dealt with, if they didn't want to have snow in July or a heat wave in February. [The Hebrew months, or moons, were named differently: from Abib(#1) to Adar(#12), and the Chaldean or Aramaic names differed also.]
So, since Jesus is the Lamb-of-God, was he actually crucified 
on the Day of Passover; on the 14th of that first
month Nissan? Go to the head of the class! And
the day following was that "high sabbath" which the
Apostle John wrote about--it was the first day of Unleavened
Bread, which lasted for seven days.. John 18:28,39.
Mary came to the tomb on the morning after the regular weekly sabbath. It's this agenda which fits all the facts and still allows time for Him to be in the grave for nearly three complete days and nights.
3. Peter denied Christ three (3) times.
?? That's right, but don't say ONLY three times: say
"Twice three times". All four of the gospels write
about this event, and it's Mark's Gospel which throws the
monkey wrench into the story. He records how Jesus said:
"Before the cock crows twice, you shall
deny me thrice". Mk14:30. He goes on to record three of
Peter's denials (14:68,70,71) and the second
crowing of the cock.
My wife told me she was going to scream if she heard about that rooster crowing even one more time. The other three gospels don't say anything about the second crowing: they all simply say "before the cock crows, you'll deny me thrice". Logic demands that either Mark got it wrong, or Peter must've denied Jesus six times. Three times before the cock crowed the first time, and then three more times before the cock crowed the second time.
| Matthew 26:34 | 26:70 (1st denial) | 26:72 (2nd denial) | 26:74 (3rd denial) |
| Luke 22:34 | 22:57 | 22:58 | 22:60 |
| John 13:38 | 18:17 | 18:25 | 18:27 |
| MARK 14:30 | 14:68 to the maid | 14:70 | 14:71 w swearing |
4. Jesus stumbled on the way to
Golgotha..? I'm not
necessarily opposed to tear-jerkers, as long as they conform to
Truth. There's nothing written in the Scripture about His
Stumbling, as portrayed in Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" movie.
Matthew was clearly referring to a metaphoric cross (a figure of speech) when he wrote these words of Jesus: "He that taketh not his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me". Mt10:38. This was written long before Calvary, so it was the figurative cross He spoke of. Matthew surely wasn't speaking of a physical wooden cross, and all of the Twelve were there to hear him, including John who wrote the Gospel of John.
John wrote (none of the others said it) about Jesus going forth "bearing his cross", John 19:17. Without a doubt our Lord Jesus went to Calvary for the salvation of humanity, and certainly He endured the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb12:2.
He wrote nothing about stumbling, or taking up the burden of
Simon the Cyrenian. Remembering how it was the young lad Isaac
who carried the wood up the mountain where Abraham would offer
him as sacrifice, I accept the allegory as a type of Jesus
carrying the cross -- it's just that I see it as a metaphorical
cross instead of the physical cross. The ram in the bush was his
(Isaac's) substitute, just as the Lamb of God is ours.
5. On the Day of Pentecost all the Apostles were in an Upper Room. ??
Well, I'm confident that's where they were when they woke up that
morning--it was like a dormitory room, for men, and was where
they called home when they weren't at the temple or on other
business in Jerusalem. Luke tells us "[They]were continually
in the temple, praising and blessing God",
24:53. But of course they didn't sleep in the temple--the temple
was where the Law-abiding Jews were required to be on their Feast
Days. For more on this subject go to: 3Feasts.
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Pentecost is the Greek for fifty, and is known in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks, because it started with someone bringing the firstfruits of the crop to the High Priest, which he would "wave" before the Lord, Lev23:11, and that would start the seven-week plus one day (50 days) count to the "Day of Pentecost". This feast was also known as the Harvest Feast, and allegorically speaks of the harvest of souls which has been taking place ever since Christ, our "Firstfruits", 1Cor15:20, was raised from the dead. He symbolizes the grain harvest, and so that "Great Day of Pentecost" symbolizes the beginning of the fruit harvest which follows.
6. One of the thieves crucified with Jesus
spoke up for Him. Everybody know this one--how that the
thief said to Jesus "Remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom", Lk23:42. So call me a nit-picker or a spoil-sport:
it wasn't the thief who said it, it was one of the malefactors!
Matthew and Mark both write about the two thieves--that both of them reviled Jesus. Nothing is said anywhere about one of them changing his mind. It's Luke's Gospel which tells of the one who said "Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom", and Luke doesn't say anything about thieves--he says malefactor. A wrong-doer; like criminal or felon.
The two malefactors were led out with Jesus, Lk23:32. The two thieves weren't crucified with him until after the sign was put up proclaiming Jesus as the King of the Jews. Matt27:38, Mk15:27. John's Gospel, 19:19, records that the sign was put up after Jesus and the two had been crucified. John doesn't specify whether they were thieves or malefactors, but he does make it clear how three were crucified before the sign was put up, and we must conclude from this that there were indeed five crosses at Calvary instead of the three usually portrayed.
7. Why did God forsake Jesus on the Cross?
Preachers
go to great lengths to explain it, but don't usually call it
complaining by Jesus when he said "My God, My God, Why hast
thou forsaken me?" Matt27:46. Ordinarily it takes the form
of His just "wondering" (not knowing) why the sins and
sickness of the world had separated Him from God.
I just don't buy it--I believe Jesus was quoting Scripture, and that God had not forsaken him at all! The psalmist David wrote these same words to lead off Psalm 22, and no doubt people at that time thought David was complaining or whining, and even going against his own words in Psalm 27:9.
The 22nd Psalm is what I call the "Crucifixion" psalm, because it describes the scene at Calvary, even though the word crucify isn't found there. Verse 16 in particular: "Dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet". And verse 18 --"they part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture".
In John 8:25 the Pharisees asked Jesus "Who are you?" and Jesus told them "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know..." When they compared the words of Psalm 22 with the scene at Calvary, they would know who he was without a shadow of a doubt -- no mortal man would have contrived such a proof! So, partly because God never changes and Heb13:5 tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us, I maintain steadfastly: Jesus was quoting Scripture! And letting them (and us) know for certain who He was!
8. Two (2) Genealogies for Jesus? 
No way,
Jose. The genealogy in Luke 3:23 is the genealogy of his
"supposed" father, Joseph. Joseph's pedigree goes back
to King David by way of Nathan -- it's Mary's (in Matthew 1)
which proceeds from Solomon. So they both belong to the
"House of David" (Tribe of Judah) in accordance with
Numbers 36:6.
This subject is dealt with in greater detail on the "Generations" page, which details the sixty-six generations between Adam and Jesus, not to mention an eye-opening account of the two Enoch's and two Lamechs. * * Click for Generations!
9. Do people come to your door who don't believe the Trinity?
They sometimes point to the fact that the word isn't found in Scripture, but the "three-in-one" of 1John 5:7 is good enough for me. The word 'resurrection' isn't found in the Old Testament and the Sadducees didn't believe in it. Also, since we're created in the image of God and we are "spirit, soul, and body" according to 1Thes5:23, then we are a "trinity" too!
Land, Sea, Air * * * Red,White, & Blue * * * Executive/Judicial/Congress
Past, Present, Future * * * Solid, Liquid, Gas * *
Faith, Hope, Charity(Agape) * * * The Way, The Truth, The Life (Zoé)
Yolk, white, shell * * * 3 into fiery furnace
Spirit, Soul, Body - 1Thes5:23 * * * Infant/Children/Adult
Belt of Orion, Job9:9 / 3 Pyramids, Isa19:19
Primary Colors: Red, Yellow, Blue * Retina cones: red, blue, green
Scripture's Third Day * Triangle architecture
H20, E=MC2IRS WHO FBI CDC d=st BSA CIA USA
"...a threefold cord is not quickly broken", Ecc4:12
Three(3) baptisms: "Placed into" (1)Body of Christ, (2)Living Water, (3)Fiery tongues
Matthew 13:33 (3 measures of dough/leaven)
Three periods of 40 yrs. in life of Moses: 40/40/40
Three choices given David: 2Sam24:12 + 1Chr21:10
Three Companies in Gideon's Army - Spiritual armor!
Three as One Lord to Abraham (Gen18:2)
Three Ark's - Noah's, Moses', Testimony Ex26:33
Three items in Ark of the Covenant: Aaron's rod, golden manna, tablets
Three witnesses in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:and these three are one. 1Jn5:7
10. The Sabbath -- Are we
celebrating God's Day on the Wrong Day?
Someone has noted that a religious day-of-the-week is recognized for each and every day of the week somewhere in the world. Maybe that's the way it should be--maybe God would be happy if we had 3rd and 4th day Adventist's as well. I say that, thinking of 2Cor3:6 "..not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life". It's #4 of the Ten Commandments: "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy", Ex20:8 and Deut5:12. Those are the two places where the Ten Commandments are compiled, but the very first mention of the Sabbath is found in Ex16:23 in connection with the Manna, and the seriousness of it recognized in Ex31:14 where God decreed death for anyone who defiled the Sabbath. This commandment has surely been broken by anyone and everyone--no doubt the saints of the Old Testament were glad to see the Day of Atonement come around when the High Priest would take the blood into the Holiest Place to absolve them of their sin. Jesus was quite adamant about keeping the Law, Matt5:19, and if that had been the end of the matter we would still be having animal sacrifices today. He hadn't gone to the Cross at that time, and the Holy Spirit hadn't yet come to lead us into the further truth of the New Covenant and the Rest-of-the-Story (as Paul Harvey would say).
History, or tradition, has it that it was the Emporer Constantine back in the third century A.D., who had a vision of a cross in the sky and thus became a "Christian" and decreed it to be the National Religion, and that Sunday was the Christian Sabbath.
"Old things are passed away,
behold all things are become new", 2Cor5:17. So is
Sunday really the Sabbath of the Gentiles? Is it the NEW DAY for
the NEW COVENANT? The clues are not a few:
1. The Day of Firsfruits was the day after the sabbath (i.e. Sunday), Lev23:11.
2. Resurrection Day was the day after the Sabbath.
3. Acts 20:7. The disciples came together to break bread and to hear Paul preach on the first day of the week. Their 7th day was Saturday, so their first day of the week was Sunday. Now, in this present day and age, I just naturally think of Monday as the first day of the week; don't you?
4. 1Cor16:2. The collection was taken up on the first day of the week--on Sunday!
5. Law of Liberty. Jas 1:25, Gal 5:1, Acts 15:20. Because some of the Jews thought circumcision should be required, James was led by the Holy Ghost to stipulate that the Gentiles who had [finally] turned to God should abstain from pollutions of idols, fornication, things strangled, and from blood.
6. Mark 2:27. Jesus said "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath". The Pharisees and Sadducees were always harping at him about doing [good] things on the Sabbath Day -- so, I don't want to follow after them by making an issue of what Day is the only day recognized by God for observing the Sabbath.
Whatsoever you do, Dearheart, DO IT AS
UNTO THE LORD!
11. THE RED HEIFER: Are we getting so spiritually spooky that we see demons behind every bush? Have we become so heavenly minded that we're no earthly good? Are we forgetting the 'sound mind' we're supposed to have? The story is ONLY from Numbers chapter nineteen and concerns the "Water of Purification" obtained by the burning of the red heifer and the mixing with ashes. It's a combination known today to produce lye soap! God wants us clean! Interesting how it could be the root of the 'holy cow' expression, and how this "lye" applies to the fundamental human sin of lying. As the preacher says: "If they lie, they'll cheat, and if they cheat, they'll steal, and after that there's no limit to the wickedness they'll get into."
12. Baptism(s) .....How many kinds? Was baptism practiced in the Old Testament?
When people ask "Have you been baptized", they're nearly always speaking of the water-baptism. We see it first in scripture when John-the-Baptist, Matt 3:6, called the Pharisees and Sadducees a "generation of vipers" as he preached and baptized in the "water of repentance".
In the Old Testament it was Naaman who was told by the Prophet Elisha to go dip in the River Jordan seven times, 2K5:10, for the cleansing of his leprosy. It's pretty clear to me that swimming and taking a shower will only get you "wet behind the ears", but that water-baptism in the sense of following in the steps of Jesus is what figuratively washes a person from sins (not from dirt and grime, tho that could be a fringe benefit).
There is good water and bad water, and also Living Water. The good water is for drinking, bathing, swimming, etc., but the bad water is for floods and drowning. The Living Water is what GOD has sent us; it's the Word that was made flesh and furnishes the wisdom and healing He wants us to have -- it's Jesus!
There is good fire and bad fire, and also Tongues of Fire. The
good fire is for keeping warm, for cooking and baking, and the
bad fire is for consuming things and making ashes, and for
"once burned--twice shy". The good, the bad, and the ugly: the ugly are those dim-wits
who teach contrary to the Word of Truth!
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Doctrine of Baptisms (plural) here in Hebrews 6:2 substantiates what we were told by John-the-Baptist in Luke 3:16:
that Jesus would be the one who baptized with Fire. We must remember that Jesus is "the Word", and until you've been put into the Word
personally, you won't get that baptism. It's similar to how Jesus, the True Bread of John6, says we have to eat his flesh and drink his blood -- NOT LITERALLY -- He's saying,
in effect, that He's the Passover Lamb!
BAPTIZE When the English translators
of the Bible came to the Greek word "baptizo" they
didn't translate it according to its meaning of "place or
put into", but instead they simply transliterated it
(replacing the Greek letters with the English equivalent).
Accordingly, to be baptized has an understood meaning of "to
be placed into", and it's with this understanding that a
third baptism (which would really be the first baptism) becomes
apparent. When we truly believe in our heart that Jesus is the
Son of God, we are "placed into the Body of
Christ"! It's a spiritual body consisting of all
believers everywhere. 1Cor12:13, 10:17.
John-the-Baptist said of Jesus "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire!" Matt3:11, Lk3:16. But it wasn't until after He'd breathed on the Apostles, Jn20:21, and directed them to "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" that we read about the manifestation of the tongues of fire on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:3.
Of course they were all believers at the time, but Jesus didn't put his statement in the form of a please would-you, or wouldn't it be nice; No, he said "Receive ye the Holy Ghost". So they did (except for Thomas, who wasn't there at the time), and so God's will was done in the matter.
When
Moses saw the burning bush, his curiosity was aroused and he went
over to see, and it was then he heard the voice of God. Ex3:2
Believers are called Trees of Righteousness in Isa61:3, and
Branches in John15:5 -- does it take such a great leap of faith
to see how Christians, who've been baptized with the Holy Ghost
and fire, could be compared to that Burning Bush? Will there be
some lost souls who will recognize that it isn't you, but the
Holy Spirit talking? But first, be filled with
the Living Water of the Word and then the first miracle
Jesus will do in your life will be to change your Living Water
into NewWine! Jn2:11. Hallelujah! He still saves the best wine
for last!
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Last modified 23 March 2006 by Bob Smith.